1/15/2012 - Latourell Falls

1/15/2012 Latourell Falls. 2.4 Miles, 520 Feet Elevation Gain

Portland Hikers description of Latourell Falls describes the season for this hike as "Year round except during winter storms"  Since it was only snowing and not icy we went for it.  I had promised the girls I would get them to the snow and I also promised them a waterfall and Latourell Falls delivered!  As we arrived at the falls, big snow flakes started to come down. 

Unfortunately unlike last week, my leg gave me a lot of trouble.  I have a muscle hernia through the fascia of my calf muscle that requires surgery to repair.  In the meantime, it's safe to hike but it hurts like hell especially on steep uphill sections.  I found that I could take about 100 steps until the pain was too great.  After 15 to 30 seconds of rest, I could keep going.  Flat and downhill did not hurt as bad and I actually did some trail running to catch up to my family after taking too long to photograph the upper falls.

1/8/2012 - Cape Horn

52 Hikes, 52 Weeks, 52 Lbs.  In 2011 we went on a total of 25 hikes for 110 miles and approx 20,000 feet of elevation gain.  I was very fortunate to have my daughters join me on nearly every hike.  I am proud that we averaged a trip every other weekend but will double that effort this year by hitting the trail 52 times in 2012.  The highlight of 2011 was climbing Munra Point (Search for it on YouTube!) with Ava.  I wanted to quit numerous times and she kept pushing me on and on and we shared a beautiful moment of accomplishment when we reached the top.  I also really enjoyed the Trail of 10 Waterfalls with Helayna as she took my DSLR away from me to capture the fall colors.  

1/8/2012 Cape Horn.  4 Miles, 670 Ft Elevation Gain

My mom moved to Vancouver, WA on New Years day.  Having her 30 minutes away will mean she will get to go on many more hikes with us.  She joined Helayna, Ava and I on Cape Horn this weekend as it's the closest Gorge hike from her house on the WA side.  Taking advantage of the nice new tunnel under Hwy 14, we climbed up to the new overlook.

  

After 30 minutes of extracting all interesting rocks from the gravel, we went back down the trail to enjoy the view from the cliffs overlooking the Columbia River.

I will check tonight at the gym if I lost my first of 52 lbs this year.